[S]uddenly I was 17 again and seeing REM at the Mosque in Richmond Virginia and never had been in an unsuccessful first marriage and 9/11 had never happened and the only thing I had to worry about was how much Milwaukee’s Best cost and whether this girl I knew liked me.

[...]

You see, back in the 80′s, growing up far from any kind of “scene,” music seemed kind of stale and lifeless. What you got on the radio was lots of classic rock (and country, I guess, if you wanted that). When we discovered REM, it seemed like a revelation – here was somethingdifferent, something interesting. And it was like our secret! We were in a special club.

Of course, REM, and what was then called “alternative music,” blew up after that. REM went on to become huge and maybe The Most Important American Band of All Time (there can be a debate, but seriously? Who else?). But you know what? REM will always remind me of a certain time when I was growing up and figuring out how to be an adult and the world was full of promise and things didn’t seem as shitty all the time.